Portuguese (Brazil) · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "o dia" in Portuguese (Brazil)?

Q: How do you pronounce o dia in Portuguese (Brazil)?

o dia is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /u ˈdʒi.ɐ/. It means “day.” oo DJEE-ah. The d becomes a "dj" because an i follows — the single most Brazilian sound in the language.

oo DJEE-ah. The d becomes a "dj" because an i follows — the single most Brazilian sound in the language.

o dia /u ˈdʒi.ɐ/

The palatalized syllable carries the accent. Notice the syllable split: di-a, with the stressed i standing on its own rather than gliding into the a. Portuguese consistently keeps a stressed i separate from a following vowel, which is why this is two beats and not one.

Listen: o dia

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Sound it out

o Written o, said "oo" — the article is never stressed, and unstressed o raises in Brazil. It links into the palatalized d with no gap.

di Here is the flagship Brazilian change: d plus an i produces the affricate that opens English "jeep." A crisp "dee" is correct in Portugal and instantly identifies a non-Brazilian speaker in São Paulo or Rio.

a A light final a lightening toward "uh," taking its own beat. It doesn't merge with the i in front of it, so the word is two syllables.

Hear it in a sentence

Que dia é hoje?

What day is it today?

Listen: Que dia é hoje?

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"Que dia é hoje?" runs three vowel-heavy words together after the initial "kee." The final "uh" of "dia" links into the open vowel of "é," which then links into the silent h of "hoje" — the whole question is essentially one continuous stream of vowels with a "dj" and a "zh" bracketing it.

Where English speakers slip

A hard d gives "DEE-ah," which is the reflexive reading and marks you immediately as either a beginner or a European Portuguese speaker. Say "DJEE-ah." Learners also squash it into one syllable. Note too that "bom dia" is only used until midday — after that it's "boa tarde."